Failure-enhanced evacuation training using a VR-based disaster simulator: A comparative experiment with simulated evacuees

Abstract Evacuation training is an important component of disaster education and survival. Evacuation training using a virtual reality (VR)-based disaster simulator that provides a highly immersive simulated evacuation experience (SEE) has attracted significant attention. To improve the training effect, we propose a failure-enhanced evacuation training model based on Kolb’s experiential learning theory. Our model aims to purposefully induce participants to succumb to conformity bias and fail to evacuate during the first SEE because inactive evacuees (i.e., people who are not evacuating speedily or not starting their evacuation) are simulated in a VR-based disaster simulator. The participants are expected to overcome failure in the second SEE via reflection and conceptualization. A preliminary comparative experiment focused on how simulated evacuees influence the SEE of participants in a VR-based disaster simulator. Results indicated that failure-enhanced evacuation training can successfully improve the training effect.